Defendant Name: Jemma Smith
Defendant Phone: 3679580
Defendant Address: Tug Street, SA
(( Defendant Discord: hozbomb#4101 ))
Requested Attorney: Blake Eli
Defendant Phone: 3679580
Defendant Address: Tug Street, SA
(( Defendant Discord: hozbomb#4101 ))
Requested Attorney: Blake Eli
Charging Department: PD
Date & Time of Incident(s): 28/03/2023 14:00
Charge(s):
There was an incident earlier today 28/03/2023 where I was completing deliveries and drove through a construction area which appeared to be clear in the middle of the road as the workers and their barriers were on the left and right-hand sides of the road. I drove my truck through the road and the road workers started running up to the truck and screaming at me, I continued to drive to the area literally 20 feet ahead where my delivery needed to be dropped off as it was clear from any pedestrians and not on a public road. Around 10 construction workers ran over to my truck and two construction trucks blocked the exit, screaming and shouting for me to get out of my truck and telling me I had knocked someone over with my truck. I looked around and saw no one injured (as I have a BLS licence I would have given them BLS immediately) so I did not exit the truck as I was afraid they were going to hurt me. I do not recall hitting anybody with my truck and denied this as I could not see anybody injured and I honestly did not see this happen amongst the chaos while driving down the road. I was alone and afraid so I called the police who responded within a few minutes (the officers mentioned above).
Rija Luigi (23495) and 3 other officers attended: (Other officer's names are unknown but I went to Mission Row, and spoke to Rija to request the other badge numbers and she provided: 08922, 15153, 22511).
One of the construction workers showed Rija his bodycam footage of the situation and Rija arrested me. While they were reviewing the bodycam footage, I spoke to the man who was hit by the truck who said he was okay, was not injured, did not need medical attention and does not want to press charges. He went over to the officers to say he did not want to press charges and they said it doesn't matter. Once we were inside the police vehicle, Rija was in the front seat and another officer was next to her and a 3rd in the back next to me. The officer driving seemed to be more understanding of my POV. He asked Rija not to add the charges yet as he wanted to talk about it with her. She went ahead and added the charges anyway. When we pulled up to DOC, he again asked to speak to her in private and not to process me yet. Rija asked the DOC guard to process me anyway and ignored her colleague. I fully believe that the officer driving saw I am a good person, that I did not intend to hurt anybody intentionally, that I did not 'run' from the scene as I drove no more than 20 feet away and that I contacted the police myself. I really feel that this officer acted unfairly and did not take any accounts from the people on the scene into consideration, solely relying on one person's bodycam footage which no one else appears to have seen. I have therefore raised an IA Complaint about Rija.
My colleagues at DOC were as surprised as I was to see me there and the Deputy warden Katie who was on Duty told the police about how I am a good person who would never intentionally hurt anybody. I work at DOC as a COIII and I was taken on by them as an ex-felon who had turned my life around from a life of petty crime to doing really well in a government job with nothing more than a couple of speeding fines in the last year +. This type of charge is going to be catastrophic for me as I will lose my position at DOC.
I completely understand that I should not have driven through a construction zone and would have happily taken a misdemeanour for reckless driving considering no one was seriously injured and the person who was hit did not even want to press charges but it feels like the book was thrown at a good citizen of SA just for the sake of it.
My boyfriend Luke (who attended the scene after I said I was scared on the radio) has since spoken to Kasey Lee who was the person hit by the truck who has said he is happy to confirm he does not want to press charges and he does not feel I was at fault for the accident. He said he'd happily testify in court. I'm sure I could also get some people to testify on my good character within DOC too if it would help.
Kasey Lee - 2013046
I'd like to take this to court and I'd like the charges to be dropped so that I do not have a felony. As I said, a citation or misdemeanour would have been fine and I wouldn't have complained about that because I shouldn't have driven through the road work whether I felt there was enough room or not. but the impact of this charge is lifechanging and I feel it's unlawful and unjust.
I, Jemma Smith, hereby affirm that all information provided above is true and correct to the best of my knowledge, and understand that knowingly providing false information could result in additional charges and/or fines. (( I affirm that all information submitted has been obtained via In-Character means. ))
Charge(s):
- Felony - Hit and Run
There was an incident earlier today 28/03/2023 where I was completing deliveries and drove through a construction area which appeared to be clear in the middle of the road as the workers and their barriers were on the left and right-hand sides of the road. I drove my truck through the road and the road workers started running up to the truck and screaming at me, I continued to drive to the area literally 20 feet ahead where my delivery needed to be dropped off as it was clear from any pedestrians and not on a public road. Around 10 construction workers ran over to my truck and two construction trucks blocked the exit, screaming and shouting for me to get out of my truck and telling me I had knocked someone over with my truck. I looked around and saw no one injured (as I have a BLS licence I would have given them BLS immediately) so I did not exit the truck as I was afraid they were going to hurt me. I do not recall hitting anybody with my truck and denied this as I could not see anybody injured and I honestly did not see this happen amongst the chaos while driving down the road. I was alone and afraid so I called the police who responded within a few minutes (the officers mentioned above).
Rija Luigi (23495) and 3 other officers attended: (Other officer's names are unknown but I went to Mission Row, and spoke to Rija to request the other badge numbers and she provided: 08922, 15153, 22511).
One of the construction workers showed Rija his bodycam footage of the situation and Rija arrested me. While they were reviewing the bodycam footage, I spoke to the man who was hit by the truck who said he was okay, was not injured, did not need medical attention and does not want to press charges. He went over to the officers to say he did not want to press charges and they said it doesn't matter. Once we were inside the police vehicle, Rija was in the front seat and another officer was next to her and a 3rd in the back next to me. The officer driving seemed to be more understanding of my POV. He asked Rija not to add the charges yet as he wanted to talk about it with her. She went ahead and added the charges anyway. When we pulled up to DOC, he again asked to speak to her in private and not to process me yet. Rija asked the DOC guard to process me anyway and ignored her colleague. I fully believe that the officer driving saw I am a good person, that I did not intend to hurt anybody intentionally, that I did not 'run' from the scene as I drove no more than 20 feet away and that I contacted the police myself. I really feel that this officer acted unfairly and did not take any accounts from the people on the scene into consideration, solely relying on one person's bodycam footage which no one else appears to have seen. I have therefore raised an IA Complaint about Rija.
My colleagues at DOC were as surprised as I was to see me there and the Deputy warden Katie who was on Duty told the police about how I am a good person who would never intentionally hurt anybody. I work at DOC as a COIII and I was taken on by them as an ex-felon who had turned my life around from a life of petty crime to doing really well in a government job with nothing more than a couple of speeding fines in the last year +. This type of charge is going to be catastrophic for me as I will lose my position at DOC.
I completely understand that I should not have driven through a construction zone and would have happily taken a misdemeanour for reckless driving considering no one was seriously injured and the person who was hit did not even want to press charges but it feels like the book was thrown at a good citizen of SA just for the sake of it.
My boyfriend Luke (who attended the scene after I said I was scared on the radio) has since spoken to Kasey Lee who was the person hit by the truck who has said he is happy to confirm he does not want to press charges and he does not feel I was at fault for the accident. He said he'd happily testify in court. I'm sure I could also get some people to testify on my good character within DOC too if it would help.
Kasey Lee - 2013046
I'd like to take this to court and I'd like the charges to be dropped so that I do not have a felony. As I said, a citation or misdemeanour would have been fine and I wouldn't have complained about that because I shouldn't have driven through the road work whether I felt there was enough room or not. but the impact of this charge is lifechanging and I feel it's unlawful and unjust.
I, Jemma Smith, hereby affirm that all information provided above is true and correct to the best of my knowledge, and understand that knowingly providing false information could result in additional charges and/or fines. (( I affirm that all information submitted has been obtained via In-Character means. ))